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0:24
Austin Esterbrooks
“Giving you a brief look at the halibut performance of the fleet last year relative to the longer-term trends, again, it was the, the third best year and I attribute this mostly to, again, the health of the pollock stock and reduced time fishing generally equates to lower bycatch.”NPFMC 279 Day 2 - June 5, 2026 · Jun 5, 2026
0:25
Austin Esterbrooks
“this is typically due to temperature regimes in the Bering Sea. We typically see a lot more Chinook move up onto the shelf and overlap with the pollock distributions when temperatures are warmer. And this held true in 2025, particularly in the A season. There were a lot more Chinook up on the shelf overlapping with the fishery.”NPFMC 279 Day 2 - June 5, 2026 · Jun 5, 2026
0:18
Austin Esterbrooks
“there were no violations of any of the IPA bycatch avoidance rules or fishing prohibitions in 2025.”NPFMC 279 Day 2 - June 5, 2026 · Jun 5, 2026
0:07
Austin Esterbrooks
“In terms of the historical Chinook salmon bycatch, 2025 wasn't as good as 2024.”NPFMC 279 Day 2 - June 5, 2026 · Jun 5, 2026
0:46
Austin Esterbrooks
“obviously 2018-19 were some of the lower, lower sea ice years on record in the Bering Sea. So, um, 2018, you don't see the effect yet, but 2019 and 2020, there was definitely sort of a lagged effect there in terms of the bycatch.”NPFMC 279 Day 2 - June 5, 2026 · Jun 5, 2026
0:05
Austin Esterbrooks
“we had 9 chum bycatch avoidance areas that were identified in 2025 across the B season.”NPFMC 279 Day 2 - June 5, 2026 · Jun 5, 2026
Pollock fleet builds empirical database of trawl seafloor contact as Congress weighs gear restrictions
Alaska Pacific University's Gear Innovation Initiative has documented nearly 300 trawls, building an evidence base for how pelagic trawl gear behaves near the seafloor. Updated gear parameters are scheduled for Scientific and Statistical Committee review in February 2027, alongside a Trident Seafoods modified foot-rope design tested under an exempted fishing permit.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 1h ago2 min readAIKodiak, Alaska
